President Donald Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Team USA hockey goalie Connor Hellebuyck after he led the United States of America to victory over Canada to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Hellebuyck and his teammates were invited into the House chamber during Trump’s State of the Union address.
Trump said the decision to award Hellebuyck the medal came after the team visited him at the White House and took a unanimous vote to do so.
Trump showcased the men’s Olympic gold medal win as just the latest example of the United States “winning too much” under his presidency, riffing in his classic style:
Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, “Please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country until you came along. We’re just always losing, but now we’re winning too much!” And I say, “No, no, no, you’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re going to win bigger than ever.” And to prove that point … here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud: The men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team.
The team was met with a raucous standing ovation and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” for about two minutes. Even some Democrats stood up, which surprised Trump, who said it was the “first time I’ve ever seen them get up.”
But some Democrats have such deep disdain for American patriotism that, “actually not all of them did get up,” Trump said.
Trump also announced that the Team USA women’s hockey team, which declined an invitation to the State of the Union, would soon be visiting the White House.
With the team’s vote to award Hellebuyck the Medal of Freedom, Trump said he told them that if “anybody votes no, I’m not doing it.”
“They weren’t about to say no, because they’ve never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Connor Hellebuyck,” he said.
“Think of it, 46 shots on goal, and I asked him, ‘The one shot, the one where you put your stick at the back, and it hit the neck of your stick and bounced off. You practice that? Or was that a little lucky?” Trump joked. “You refused to answer that question.”
“I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor,” Trump said, adding that the next Olympics will be hosted by the United States in 2028.
